Sports Writer, Beaumont, Tx

Plus, you'd have to live in Beaumont, which is a cesspool of major proportions. My folks live near Houston and the traffic and road contruction on I-10 through Beaumont got so bad that I've taken to bypassing that city altogether and going the Bridge City-Port Neches-Groves route and getting back on the interstate at Winnie. It's all 4-lane, minimal traffic and beaucoups easier.

 

Used to work there. This job's not for everyone. Best I can say is you have to weigh what it is against where you are.

Pay? I'm guessing low-mid 30s
Beat? If you are solid enough, I'm guessing you can get in on the Lamar coverage. And Lamar is adding FCS (1-AA) football starting in 2010. Lots of preps. You'll wait a long time if you are holding your breath for a Rockets, Texans or Astros press pass. Better find a local angle to get those and by local, I mean a Beaumonter playing for or against one of the above teams (like Perkins of the Celtics or Jay Bruce of the Reds).
Leadership? Tim is not as heavily involved as one would think. ME wants sports to be more integrated into the newsroom in general. Which is fine, as long as she recognizes that much of what sports does is unique to the newsroom, which explains the detachment many sports departments feel to the larger newsroom as opposed to the cliche "they are a bunch of prima donnas over there in sports."
The company? It's Hearst. Better than Gannett, but if you are in corporate papers, you are going to feel the Gannett influence for better or worse (well, for the worse). It's probably more solid than most chains, but not so solid that it's immune to layoffs (Beaumont has had several, including the entire press crew, Houston has had several) and even possible closings (the troubled Seattle PI story).
The town? Rough place. Odd mix of redneck and inner-city decay. Not much charm. But it's livable. City has over 100k, meaning you get most of the your chain restaurants, a decent-sized mall, a Barnes and Noble, etc., etc. So if you are coming from a Midland or a Lufkin, you may see it as a step up. If you are coming from Boston or Seattle you might feel the culture shock. Also, it's an hour from Houston and right on the Louisiana border, so you can day trip to a lot of culture and fun if you feel Beaumont is lacking.

 

Lamar is bringing back football? WOW!!

 

Just signed their first recruiting class and everything:
http://lamarcardinals.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/020309aaa.html

 

I'm shocked, given the fact a D-II school in a market I used to work in just dropped football after 90-something years because of budgets. I wonder where they got the cash to pay for all of this. Did someone strike oil at Spindletop again?

When Lamar dropped it in 1989, the big gender-equity push was in its infancy, too. I do remember our staff won an award for our coverage and since I did the layout, I got a nice bonus check. But back then we only had color on the section front four days a week and that day happened to be a B&W day. I was bummed.

 

Dropping football was the biggest mistake they ever made. You just don't do that in Texas because it sends the signal out that there are bigger problems than football -- as in "Lamar can't support football? There must be something wrong with that school." -- and from that day forward, I believe the story goes that overall donations declined and support for basketball -- Lamar had actually bragged about becoming the "Marquette of the South" once football was out of the way -- actually dwindled.

The second mistake was being part of the Sun Belt. The American South made sense if it had a modest expansion (the six-team roster was too small, but the strength of the basketball teams was good). The Sun Belt was/is too geographically spread out to generate interest. As good as Western Kentucky is, folks in Beaumont, Texas don't relate to it. They do relate to McNeese State and Louisiana-Lafayette. It's a lesson a lot of mid-majors need to learn.

 

Lamar is in the Southland Conference.

 

Have it on good authority that this position is about to be filled. Also, on good authority that they landed a good candidate -- high energy, very motivated, innovative and a solid writer. He will do a good job for the new SE (Chris Dabe, also a good guy) and will fit well with what the new ME is hoping to do there. A little jealous. Would have loved to gotten this guy in my shop. But, is a good spot for him and he will do well.

 

When did Lamar become a mid-major? I must have missed out on that news

 

They used to be a good team in the early 80s, I think an elite 8 appearance.

 

Billy Tubbs, and then Pat Foster, had Lamar breaking into that mid-major realm in the late '70s and early '80s. Then, as BrianGriffin pointed out, Lamar made some bad decisions, including announcing it would drop football, which it did late in the '80s.

I can also say without hesitancy that BrianGriffin indeed knows Lamar is in the Southland Conference. He was talking about what happened after the Cardinals left -- that American South Conference/Sun Belt black hole they dropped into in their various sports -- and before returning to the Southland a few years ago.

Lamar lost in the NCAA tournament to eventual national champion Michigan State in 1979, made a Sweet 16 appearance in 1980 and beat No. 4 Oregon State, then lost to Final Four participant LSU in the second round a year later. In the late '60s, the school had a brief stint as the No. 1-ranked team in the AP College Division poll.

 

Yeah, anyone who is Division I like to call themselves a "mid major".

I worked as an SID in the Sun Belt Conference when Lamar was there. They were our travel partner. We'd play Thurs-Sat road trips with them; we'd be in one city one day and then switch with them for the Saturday date.

Not many Sun Belt schools had football. The perception --- right or wrong -- was the Sun Belt was a notch above the Southland in basketball, so when they dropped football, it made sense to switch leagues. Being back in the Southland, it makes sense to bring it back if they can do so affordably.

They won't have any problem getting players or coaches and they'll be on the same level as Sam Houston State or Stephen F. Austin. Maybe even be a FCS powerhouse someday if all goes well. I was just surprised that the school would invest the money to do it. I see more schools dropping programs than starting new ones.